The word “monkey” did not enter the English language until the sixteenth century. Prior to then, the word “ape” was the only common term for primates other than human beings. The difference between apes and human beings was never clear either. If somebody called you an ape, it might not be just a metaphor. In History of Four-Footed Beasts and Serpents, and Insects, published in 1647, Edward Topsell included the satyr and the sphinx among apes-the term encompassed any creature that was almost “human” but not quite.
This sort of definition, and not a conventional biological one, must be used when looking back over the lore of apes and monkeys through the centuries. Among the most popular religious figures of China is Old Monkey, who was born when lightning struck a stone. Old Monkey broke into heaven, got drunk on celestial wine, erased his name from the book of the dead, and fought back the armies of Heaven. Finally, he caused so much trouble that the gods and goddesses appealed to the Buddha for help. The Buddha sought out Old Monkey, and their dialogue went something like this:
“What do you wish?” the Buddha asked Old Monkey.
“To rule in Heaven,” Old Monkey replied.
“And why should this be granted to you?” asked the Buddha.
“Because,” said Old Monkey, “I can leap across the sky.” “Why,” laughed the Buddha, “I will bet that you cannot even leap out of my hand,” and he picked Old Monkey up. “If you can do that, you may rule in Heaven, but if you can't, then you must give up your claim.”
Old Monkey made a tremendous jump and soon arrived at a pillar of Heaven. To show that he had been there, he urinated and wrote his name. Then, with another leap, Old Monkey returned to claim his prize. “What have you done?” asked the Buddha.
“I have gone to the end of the universe,” said Old Monkey. “You have not even left my hand,” laughed the Buddha, and he raised one finger. Old Monkey recognized the pillar of Heaven and realized that what the Buddha said was true.
The Buddha imprisoned Old Monkey under a mountain for five hundred years. Finally, Old Monkey was rescued by Kwan-Yin, bodhisattva of mercy. To redeem himself, Old Monkey had to guard a Buddhist monk on a dangerous journey from China to India. Old Monkey served faithfully, through fantastic adventures in which he did battle with countless demons and sorcerers, and finally became a Buddha in the end. These adventures were chronicled in the epic novel Journey to the West, attributed to Wu Ch'eng-en, in the early sixteenth century. Old Monkey was often depicted alongside solemn portraits of Buddhist sages, but even as a Buddha he retained a mischievous streak.
The monkey-god Hanuman is similarly beloved in the Hindu pantheon, largely because he is capable of both childish mischief and noble sacrifice. When Hanuman was a child, he looked up, saw the sun, and thought it must be a delicious fruit. He jumped to pick it and rose so high that Indira, god of the sky, became angry. Indira hurled a thunderbolt at the intruder, striking Hanuman in the jaw. At this the father of Hanuman-Vayu, the god of winds-became furious and started a storm that threatened to destroy the entire world. Brahma, the supreme god, placated Vayu by granting Hanuman invulnerability. Indira added a promise that Hanuman could choose his own moment of death.
Ever since, however, monkeys have had swollen jaws. This story, taken from the Ramayana, an ancient Hindu epic, shows the amusement with which apes have generally been regarded throughout the world. Because Hanuman is a monkey, his divinity does not seem intimidating. In the Hindu Panchatantra and the early Buddhist Jatakas, the ape was one of the more sensible animals, often serving as chief adviser to the lion king. People in the Far East regard the playfulness of monkeys and apes as divine serenity, not simple frivolity as do people in the West.
To find a major simian figure in Western religion, we must go back to Thoth, the baboon-headed god of the ancient Egyptians. Thoth was the scribe of Osiris, ruler of the dead, and inventor of the arts and sciences. Perhaps in those archaic times reading and writing, still novel and full of mystery, appeared more simian than human. Today, of course, we use language, especially writing, to proudly distinguish ourselves from all other creatures.
By contrast, the peoples of Mesopotamia and Greece often regarded apes as degenerate human beings. According to one Jewish legend, some of the people who built the Tower of Babel were turned into apes. According to another, apes were the descendants of Enosh.
